Suicide: it’s the unspoken topic. Just mentioning the subject makes many people squirm with discomfort, because the reality is so awful that we prefer not to think about it.
Whether we suffer from mental illness or not, many of us have thought about it, or have friends or family who have thought about it. Life sometimes throws strange curveballs and the future suddenly seems impossible or awful, and we wonder if we can move forward. Statistically, this is most likely to happen in youth age 15 to 29 – a group in which suicide is the second leading cause of death globally, according to a World Health Organization report – as well as middle age and the senior years. Worldwide, each year, more than 800,000 people kill themselves, according to the organization.
In Canada, suicide rates are not significantly improving for youth, the middle aged or seniors, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) reported this year. Men are more than three times more likely to kill themselves compared with women, and rates are especially high for middle-aged men in their 40s or 50s, according to the MHCC. Now that a new recession has been declared, there could possibly be resulting deaths, as research has indicated that crushing debt and loss of savings can lead to suicide – particularly among men, who are more likely to kill themselves due to external factors as opposed to mental illness, according to a 2015 report in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
Likely, you or someone you know has had to cope after a friend or family member decided life was so bleak, it was no longer worth living. The effects are far-reaching. Those who loved the person often blame themselves and, if they’re lucky, they receive counselling to cope with the loss and the guilt before it destroys their own lives.
But will a public discussion on the issue help? It may let some know how to help their friends, but this is truly a discussion we need to have one-on-one with those who might be contemplating suicide. If we think about it, we already know who among our close friends and family might be at risk.
Talk to them now. Help them get the help they need. Whatever is clouding their mind, they can get help to get through it and go back to enjoying their days.
Despite its challenges, life is always worth living.
– Editor Christine Endicott
